Jakarta – Dozens of students from the Student Executive Councils (BEM) of State Islamic Religious Universities throughout Indonesia held a demonstration in front of the gates to the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Friday June 5.
The demonstration coincided with the commemoration of World Environment Day, which fell on the same day. The students highlighted environmental exploitation in Papua, which they deemed not to be pro-people.
"Stop exploitation. The environment [should not] be a victim of development", read a banner displayed by the protesters.
One of the speakers on the command vehicle expressed concern about the condition of the people amidst this exploitation. According to the speaker, many parents have children who cannot continue their lives.
However, amid these limitations, many public officials fail to utilise their positions to adopt pro-people policies.
"A mother who can't buy milk for her child, right? But those who hold strategic positions in this country, they adopt policies that are not oriented towards positive change", they said.
Students at the demonstration also highlighted the terror attack against Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) activist Andrie Yunus. They criticised the authorities' arrogance in responding to public criticism.
The demonstration also included a joint prayer and the placement of tyres (to be set fire to later). The demonstration was closely watched over by dozens of police officers.
"Today, many of us feel uneasy about the state of our country. They should be taking on two functions, first their brain functions and their hearts. But unfortunately, officials are not using their brains or hearts", the speaker said. (thr/wis)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Mahasiswa Demo di DPR Soroti Eksploitasi Lingkungan di Papua".]